The present invention relates to an escape route marking for an aircraft comprising photoluminescent pigments in a carrier material. The invention also relates to a method for producing an escape route marking for an aircraft.
It is known to arrange photoluminescent strips on the floor of the aircraft interior for marking escape routes in aircraft. Photoluminescence is occasionally also denoted as afterglow and/or phosphorescence. The safety requirements are specified, for example, in the German Industry Standard DIN 67510. The strips are laid on the floor of the aircraft cabin and indicate to the passengers and the crew in the event of an emergency the route to the exits and escape hatches. In the past, photoluminescent strips have increasingly become accepted as escape route marking when fitting-out aircraft and aircraft cabins, as said strips are reliable and may be operated without a power supply.
A permanently fluorescent layer is known from EP 0 489 561 A1, in which colour pigments are incorporated into a polymer matrix. In this case, the fluorescent material may be incorporated into a carrier which imparts different optical properties to the fluorescent light by additional filters.
An emergency lighting system for an aircraft is known from US 2002/015309 A1, in which photoluminescent material is arranged in a casing. The casing is held in a press fit engagement between two rails extending parallel to one another on the floor of the aircraft.
A photoluminescent material is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,074,345 B2 which consists of a cured blend of a transparent base material and photoluminescent pigments. The viscosity of the base material is 1 Pa·s at 20° C. The photoluminescent pigments are added to the base material in a quantity of 7 to 95% by weight. A series of materials are proposed for the transparent base material. When using resins, it is proposed to use methyl methacrylate (MMA), PMMA, modified PMMA, unsaturated polyester resins, epoxy resins and silicone resins. Moreover, reference is made to the fact that olefin resins, such as for example polycarbonate resins and polypropylene resins could also be used. The disclosed photoluminescent material consists of a mixture of photoluminescent pigments which are mixed with further pigments. The further pigments have a mean particle size of 0.1 to 70 μm whilst the photoluminescent pigments have a mean particle size of 150 to 2000 μm.